America’s Smartest Cities (2006)
An analysis of US Census Bureau data, performed by BizJournals in 2006, reached the conclusion Seattle (Washington) is America’s Smartest City, followed by San Francisco (California) and Austin (Texas). The rankings reflect each community’s collective brainpower, which is tied to its residents’ abilities to innovate, create, compete, and make money.
Communities were ranked in population categories, to reward cities with heavy concentrations of college graduates. The analysis looked at the educational levels of adults in thousands of US cities, towns, villages, boroughs and unincorporated areas.
1. Seattle
Nearly double the US average of 24.4%, Seattle has the strongest proportion of college-educated residents in any big city. 47% of Seattle’s adults hold bachelor’s degrees. The national average of adults with a graduate or professional degrees is 8.9% percent. Seattle is second only to Washington D.C. in the share of people with advanced diplomas.
2. San Francisco
San Francisco ranks third in the concentration of graduate and professional degrees. Close to Silicon Valley, San Francisco has long been a magnet for people with intellectual and artistic inclinations. Second only to Seattle, 45% of its adults hold bachelor’s degrees.
3. Austin
Austin is just the third large community where more than 40% of adults have earned bachelor’s degrees. The potent combination of the Texas state government and the University of Texas propel Austin to third place.
Here are America’s “smartest cities“, as ranked by this survey:
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Tags: 2006, bizjournals, Regional Surveys, Seattle, Smartest Cities, Surveys, United States, USA
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